Brother Garrison,
I am fortunate to live in NYC where I catch your show on Saturday evening AND on Sunday morning -- during Mass times on both days, I might add. I shuddered multiple times this weekend as you sang "Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus" -- and not for the reason you might think. I enjoyed your vocalizing and I swung with the beat, singing along with you until your mispronunciation of the Latin phrase,"... in nomine Domini" (that you repeatedly mispronounced as "in nomini Domine". Now pronunciation of Latin vowels and dipthongs differs in secular and church traditions, but your pronunciation was not consistent with either, and the "prayer" you sang IS liturgical. Oh, well! You're an English major. I love you anyway, Bro!

Sister Mary L.
New York, NY

Thank you, Sister. Odd, but I could FEEL that mistake as I sang it. It just felt wrong. It must've been some residual Latin buried deep in my cortex, from my teachers Helen Hunt and Helen Fleischman and Margaret Forbes. I confess my mistake and I am truly sorry for it. Send me your address and I'll ship you a copy of the new translation of the "Aeneid" and a ticket to the New York show.

Post to the Host:
When casting each show, how do you choose between Tom Keith and Fred Newman as the sound effects man? They're both so wonderful. Or are sound effects people in such demand that it's simply a choice of who's available?

John P.
Elfin Forest, CA

A few years ago Tom Keith told us that he wasn't interested in traveling with the show anymore. Somehow the airport drill got to him. Go figure. The rest of us love traveling, it's like a class trip where you get to stay in hotels and ride on buses, but Tom felt otherwise, and so we called up Fred who had been on the show years ago promoting his book "Mouth Sounds" and we asked him to do the road shows. Which in fact is about half the season. And that's the current operating procedure. We are always looking for new talent, though, and if you have a child waiting in the wings who can do the difficult helicopter flutter or the nearly impossible pterodactyl charge, then we'd like to know about it.

And is there really a town in California called Elfin Forest? If so, do you all live in tiny cottages with thatched roofs?

Dear Mr. Keillor,
When I was younger, my father and I would work on his car and you would always be playing on the radio. My father bought the Lake Wobegon tapes and I would sneak them out of his study and listen to them late at night. Now I am serving overseas in the Army. I don't get to hear your show that much but recently I received A Prairie Home Companion on DVD and it has helped lift my spirits and the spirits over here in Iraq, as I have watched the movie with many other soldiers. I just wanted you to know that.

Thank you for doing what you do and I look forward to raising my son listening to your show and working on cars in the future.

Sincerely,
Jeremy C.

Glad you liked the DVD and had I known you'd be watching it in Iraq, I might've put more women in it, maybe a dance line during some of the songs. I'm in Flint, Michigan, as I write this, and in the airport terminal is a car you might consider buying when you get back. A 1949 Buick Dynaflow, a handsome car with the little vent holes on the side of the hood. That's a car a person could enjoy working on, from back when people did that. Before cars got all computerized and complicated. My dad loved to work on cars but he didn't see a need to teach me so I am utterly ignorant. About cars and about much else, but it's too late to catch up. There comes a point when one must live with one's ignorance.

Dear Mr. Keillor,
I'm a 4th year college student, I studied in Missoula last spring (great show by the way!) however, I'm back in Wisconsin and nowhere near graduating...I'm trying to make a decision as to what is most important- in the grand scheme of things, is it more important to go somewhere you love, majoring in something you love even if it means risking unemployment or an unsteady job after graduation and an uncertain future? Or staying somewhere you dislike, majoring in something you like but don't love, but knowing that you're financially secure afterwards?

Mike H.

You're looking for passion in your life and that's good. You know it when you locate it and evidently you've found something in academia that you love and that you hesitate to take up because it may lead to an uncertain future. I'd push you to head in that direction if you feel confident about it. (Unless you're aiming at a major in creative writing, which I don't recommend.) It is so good for you to go with your passion in school -- for people who love history to take that up and not go into accounting or elementary education just because the employment statistics are good. This may be one of the few times in your life when you'll get to do that. To be completely free and make free choices. (I'm assuming you're single and have no children, Mike.) Later on, your passion may be overshadowed by a passion for a place, such as Missoula, and in order to live there, you'll make compromises, or a passion for a woman who has her own passions, and you'll have to negotiate those. But if you see clearly an exciting path right now, I'd recommend you head in that direction. When I was in college, I wanted to write fiction. I knew that. Employment prospects were poor. But I knew what I wanted to do and I took some risks in that direction and am awfully glad I did.

Dear Mr. Keillor,
I am a preschool teacher in Laguna Beach, CA.

My question: Do you believe a child will be "left behind" if they are encouraged to have a "sense of wonder," to ask questions, to have empathy for others, or to build a fort from old sheets?

I know in this age of computers it is important for us to cram children with information. I take teaching seriously and don't want to leave anyone behind.

Sandra G.
San Clemente, CA

I worry about kids, too, Sandra, and stuffing them with facts so they will test well and also about electronic over-stimulation. I think there ought to be a dreamy aspect to life, especially when you're a kid, a pleasure in reflection, the ability to lie on the ground and look at the sky. Boredom is also good. I have an 8-year-old who is a bundle of restless energy and who needs to learn the pleasure of sitting and twiddling your thumbs. I don't seem to be succeeding.

Dear Mr. Keillor,
I just wanted to tell you that you are one of my favorite liberals. I am as far right as you are left - but your show is so special that I can deal with the occasional political cracks. I love that you take us to a simpler time. I think cable news has whipped this country into a tizzy where absolutely everything is made to be so earth-shattering, when in fact the news stations are just trying to fill 24/7 worth of time. I think most Americans can agree to disagree without hating their neighbor. I wish you continued success with your show!

Pat M.
Maitland, FL

That's very neighborly of you and I agree with you about the cable news stations. I don't think we hate our neighbors just because we raise our voices, though. A democracy needs some candor and some noise and tumult doesn't hurt either. And I do feel that the right brought a special nastiness to politics that is bewildering to me. That's just my opinion but I don't quite fathom the anger I hear on the right, especially after they've been in power all these years. But I'm glad you listen to the show. Glad it's worth your time.

Hei mister Keillor,
your movie just appeared here in the finnish cinemas under the unbelievable title "Robert Altmanin huonot vitsit", that means "Robert Altman's bad jokes."
Just to let you know....

Greetings from Finnland!

Franz R.
Veikkola, Finland

I will let Mr. Altman know, my man, and this will make his day, I'm sure. He liked the song "Bad Jokes" which is sung by the cowboys in the movie, and he'll be happy to know that in Finland they think he wrote it.

Post to the Host:
Kate Mackenzie dropped from sight like into an unknown cave. Where is she, what has she been doing since she left the show? Why never a guest appearance as with many your stalwarts?

Thanks for any word or words.

James G.
Gaithersburg, MD

Kate is a woman of mystery who follows strong internal leanings that may have to do with the tides or the phases of the moon. We're not sure. She married a retired teacher and bicycling fanatic named Buck Seeger and moved to Oregon. We're still friends but she has resisted all pleas for a return performance, most recently on the season opener in St. Paul in September, which she attended and sat on stage, not thirty feet from a microphone, but made me promise I wouldn't haul her up to sing. So I didn't. She is not in a federal bluegrass protection program or in a hostage situation, so far as I can tell. She seems very happy in retirement. We all miss her terribly.

Dear Mr. Keillor,
It's that time of year in the fifth grade to begin fractions and decimals. I didn't understand either in fifth grade; however, I'm quite adept at both now that I teach them. My question is: Do I drag all 27 of my fifth graders through least commom denominators, greatest common factors, and so on; or do I merely wait for them to get a job teaching fifth grade, letting them teach themselves?

While I'm leaning toward the latter, George Bush and his No Child Left Behind act seem to propose the former. (P.S. Do you think he knows a LCD from a GCF?)

Sincerely,
Kathryn

I think GWB knows a lot about LCDs, Kathryn, but I'd rather he accepted that torture is against our American values and that habeas corpus is a foundation stone of a civil society. You can hire people to work out GCFs but a president running amok with the Constitution can do damage it will take decades to repair.

Dear Mr. Keillor,
I was wondering if you had any insights about rules of thumb people could use when they consider emigrating. I realize that our current situation here in the U.S. may not be as bad as, say, Germany in 1937, but I can't stop thinking about the frog-and-boiling-water analogy. When is "bad" really bad enough? After 3 suspicious presidential elections (instead of 2)? After one's friends or family start disappearing without a trace? More invasions we can't finish? Sometimes I think the main reasons I stay is because Thomas Jefferson believed this American experiment thing to be a good idea, and because it's easier for me to tell jokes in (American) English. The ketchup's not working; not sure how much to up the dose to get more courage, or fewer doubts.

Jeanine C.
Austin TX

I'm all in favor of foreign experiences, Jeanine, but do it for fun and not out of despair. I have friends who moved to Vancouver for the reasons you mention, and I suppose that's not so hard, but don't rush anything. The antidote to despair is to take a vacation from TV and radio and newspapers and rediscover your country and your people at the grass roots. You will find this bracing and inspiring. You're wearing yourself out and you need a break, and I recommend that you start reading diaries and journals and memoirs and letters of ordinary American people. The fear of relatives disappearing is paranoid. The elections of 2000 and 2004, whatever their complications, are over and done. Give yourself a vacation, kid. October is a great month in Austin for sitting outdoors and watching the sun go down. Do that and put thoughts of emigration out of your head. It's a hard road and you should only do it out as an adventure, not out of depression.

GK,
I understand that the Republican National Convention will be held in the Twin Cities in 2008. Naturally I am curious as to your reaction to this news -- laughter or tears? I know that, as a Midwesterner, you're well aware of your social obligations to be a good host. On the other hand, your political philosophies may compel you to do otherwise. I am sure part of you really wants to be on the road at that time -- or maybe you want to invite these invaders over to the Fitzgerald Theater for a show. What could be better than getting them to pay for being the butt of the jokes?

Either way, I'm sure I'll enjoy the show -- assuming I'm back from Baghdad to hear it.

Greg R.
Baghdad

Greg, you come back from Baghdad and we'll put on a show for them at the Fitzgerald. Usually our season doesn't start until late September, but traditions are made to be broken.